It seemed like a petty squabble, a storm in a bucket of beer-battered chips.

For one man it blew into something 'that weighed heavily on his heart”. For another, it turned into a beer-battered bonanza that made its way, all the way, into the pages of ‘The Times' newspaper in England.

So it seems.

And when the salt and vinegar had settled, one man, a Guinness aficionado at The Crown & Badger had been sent to the 'naughty corner” for alleged negativity and the other main player, the proprietor, had sold as many beer-battered fries in one day as he normally sells in a week.

Then this week Hospitality New Zealand, the voice of the hospitality industry, chimed in firmly on the side of the proprietor, Mark Thodey. 'Yes, we do believe the owners of The Crown & Badger are acting fairly and properly.”

And 'Yes”, said HNZ, the business owner is able to choose which method of product presentation is best for their business. And in this case The Crown & Badger had decided a gold metal bucket was appropriate to serve up its beer-battered chips.

And yes, the proprietor had every right to ask the customer in question to stay off the premises. 'Such decisions aren't taken lightly,” says Hospitality New Zealand's regional manager Alan Sciascia. 'It's usually only done when a customer becomes unreasonably disruptive or aggressive.”

And the customer in this case was Geoff Ellett. In his case, disruptive and negative were the charges. Athough Geoff would insist even that unfairly misrepresents him.

It all blew up when Geoff, a 10-year regular, bought hot chips at The Crown & Badger. But he didn't want them in a flash bucket introduced by the new ‘mine host' thank you, he preferred them in the traditional bowl, to retain their heat while he supped his pint and yakked with mates so he thought.

Events then become hazy, woolly – there's a lot of he said, they said, claim and counter-claim depending on who you talk to. There are accusations and innuendo.

'But as a genuinely innocent party I was mistreated, no two ways about it,” says Geoff, who's been ordered to take time out from the bar after he continually complained. It seems it wasn't so much about a bucket of chips but more about how he complained and his general attitude.

'Mr Elliot was negative from the moment we took over and started developing the business,” says owner Mark Thodey. 'He was rude to staff and patrons felt intimidated by his consistently negative attitude.”

'Totally untrue,” says Geoff. 'A distorted version of reality.”

But Mark stops right there. He doesn't want to aggravate things. He wants to let it lie. He took over The Crown & Badger three months ago; and he and his partner have focused on improving up the business to make it a better experience for patrons and introducing a new food culture. That involves changes, like how food is served, like beer-battered chips in a bucket, and that's not always welcome apparently.

However, HNZ had some useful observations prompted by this beer-battered stand-off.

'It's a continual challenge for a business owner to try and meet public demand particularly when differing opinions arise. Sometimes they may change presentation to meet public demand and at other times to create a point of difference. Ultimately, the market will decide whether it's a good idea.”

And with sales of beer-battered chips soaring at The Crown & Badger after the dispute went public, the market has already spoken. And loudly.

Alan doubts whether the presentation style will revert back to the previous style without significant public resistance. 'And one dissatisfied customer is not significant public resistance.”

Alan says that's part of the challenge of running a hospitality business, striking a happy medium where you please more customers than you displease. 'A bit like politics.”

And from the customers perspective? If they have an experience not to their liking they should take it up with management. If still unhappy, Alan says a customer can resort to the media or social media; or simply take their business elsewhere. It's a competitive industry and there are a lot of options.

Geoff certainly had his concerns but the dispute is more about how those concerns were expressed and how they were acted on. For his part, Mark says any restaurant or bar has expectations of how people should behave when out in a public environment.

'However, I enjoy a level of comfort at The Crown & Badger,” says Geoff. He doesn't want to go elsewhere. 'I have friends there and I've been a loyal customer for more than 10 years.” He believes he deserved better than being ordered from the premises by a staff member.

Now he's jokingly 'considering major changes to his appearance” – cutting off his distinctive long hipster beard – so he can sneak back into his beloved The Crown & Badger for a pint. But he admits making his peace and returning to the pub would be 'a good outcome”.

Meanwhile, Mark heard from a young relative in London that this skirmish in a bucket had made it into ‘The Times” in London no less. A quiet news day perhaps.